As a preliminary note, when software “help” and software “documentation” and software “problems” are mentioned herein, this document is referring to end user help, documentation and problems, as opposed to, say, software designer help, documentation and problems. The end user may be an IT person (information technology specialist), or the end user may be a person without much training or education in the field of computer software. In this document, the various types of end users are sometimes collectively referred to as “customers.”
Help pages are generally defined as topic-oriented, procedural or reference information delivered through computer software. It is a form of user assistance. Most online help, including help pages, is designed to give assistance in the use of software applications or operating systems, but can also be used to present information on a broad range of topics. Microsoft Compiled HTML Help is a Microsoft proprietary online help format, consisting of a collection of HTML pages, an index and other navigation tools. The files are compressed and deployed in a binary format with the extension .CHM, for Compiled HTML. The format is often used for software documentation. Some conventional help systems help a user for a single/locale environment and link windows in a static manner for predefined dialogues.